Part 33 (1/2)
”Two options,” Kerr said, pointing at the dimly glowing signs bolted to the side of the shuttle at the rear from where they stood and farther ahead. ”Loading hatches, or another maintenance hatch.”
”Where's the maintenance hatch down here?”
”Decking.”
”We'll come out beneath the shuttle?”
”Yes.”
”Then we want that one.”
It took them five minutes to find it. The wide floor hatch was cordoned off near the rear of the shuttle. They got it open and found themselves staring at the smooth metal launchpad. It was a good four-meter drop, an impossible descent with what they carried.
Threnody lifted her head and looked at Kerr. ”Trunks?”
He nodded. ”Trunks.”
They worked quickly to undo the safety harnesses and ropes that kept the nearest cargo trunks in place, pus.h.i.+ng several onto the platform. The noise the trunks made was drowned out by the noise of dozens of transport shuttles sitting with their engines running.
Kerr jumped down to stack the trunks, arms straining to move them. Once they were stable, he climbed on top and waited as Threnody carefully pushed the carrying case over the edge. She grunted as the weight swung from the end of her arms, joints aching, but she didn't let go. She saw Kerr get his shoulders beneath it and some of the tension eased in her arms as he took most of the weight. Threnody quickly pitched herself out of the shuttle and onto the platform.
She landed loosely, letting her body absorb the impact, and steadied herself with her hands. Then she moved to help Kerr. From beneath the body of the transport shuttle, they could see the rear of the Command Center, the squat building taking up most of the view. Technicians raced about, most heading for an emergency exit. Whatever their orders, Threnody and Kerr couldn't hear them. They weren't tapped into the comm channel being used, so they couldn't eavesdrop on the chatter.
”s.h.i.+t,” Threnody said as she stared out at the launch area. ”This place is bigger than I thought.”
”Let's head for those doors.”
They ran as fast as they could, trying not to jostle the dangerous contents of the carrying case. A brief touch of telepathic power on unsuspecting human minds caused the workers to ignore them. They couldn't do anything about the security feed, but hopefully the bioware on the recognition points of their faces would trip up the computers long enough for them to get inside.
The supervisor on duty let workers through the emergency exit in small groups. Threnody and Kerr made it inside within five minutes, the door closing behind them. They waited impatiently inside a small decontamination chamber, the process agonizingly slow to them. Once they were cleared to proceed, a second door slid open and they walked into a hallway crowded with workers. Threnody and Kerr paused only long enough to unlock their helmets and take them off. They breathed in recycled air that stung their noses. The emergency alarm going off hurt their ears; the strobe lights nearly blinded them.
Best place to put it would be on one of the upper levels, Threnody said as they pushed their way through the crowd. Setting it up in one of the support columns would effectively put it belowground, and that's not going to help us.
The further up we go, the more Warhounds we're going to encounter, Kerr warned. I can feel them on the mental grid. They're merged with Nathan and it's not pretty. Their attention might be outside this place, but I can guarantee you that if we're spotted, they'll turn all that power on this building to try to find us.
We need to stay aboveground.
Then let's find somewhere on the next level. It's the safest place we can use.
They took an access stairwell up, and appropriated the first empty room they came across. The pair set the heavy carrying case down once inside. After locking the door, they tossed their helmets aside. Threnody looked around the storage room at the half-empty shelves and dented walls.
”Let's figure out where to put the bomb,” she said.
They wrestled the carrying case to the rear of the storage room before opening it. Strapped securely inside was a second, smaller case that, when opened, revealed the components of a nuclear bomb. Wires protruded from it, connecting to an external receiver, the remote detonator strapped securely beside it. Threnody pried the remote detonator free and set it down on a nearby metal shelf.
”Okay,” she said, letting Kerr take her spot. ”Let's hope Novak did this right.”
Kerr removed the flashlight hanging from his tool belt and propped it up at an angle on the open carrying case to get more light. He then carefully slipped the receiver out of the case and set it down on a shelf. Having grown up with a hacker for a partner, he knew what to do better than Threnody, but that didn't mean he was an expert. Halfway through the setup, Kerr let out a sharp gasp.
”Tell me you didn't just set the timer,” Threnody said, trying to keep the fear out of her voice. ”We're not ready, Kerr. Everyone's not off the field yet.”
Kerr looked over his shoulder at her, face gone gray beneath the harsh lights. ”No. Lucas just ripped apart a s.p.a.ce shuttle with Jason's help.”
Threnody curled her hand around his forearm. ”Focus on the bomb.”
They wanted to be out on the field with their partners, but instead they were here, finis.h.i.+ng what Lucas had started. The two former team leaders of the Strykers Syndicate understood that failure wasn't an option, even if the plan was built through the shady gray areas of morality.
Kerr was plugging in the command codes that Novak said would connect the remote detonator with the receiver when agony exploded through his mind. He bent double beneath the pain, stumbling away from the shelves. Threnody grabbed him, giving Kerr support before he collapsed. He leaned heavily against her, forehead pressed into the curve of her neck as he bit down on his bottom lip against the scream wanting to leave his lungs. She felt something wet slide between the collar of her skinsuit and her throat: Kerr's blood.
”Kerr,” Threnody said, voice tight. ”Kerr. I need you to focus.”
Jason's been shot, came the shaky words. Feels like he's dying.
They didn't share a bond anymore, but Threnody would never believe that meant Kerr gave up crawling into Jason's mind whenever he felt like it. Shoving the taller man upright, Threnody forced Kerr to look at her. The haunted look in his eyes made her stomach knot.
”Go save him,” she said fiercely. ”I'll give you five minutes to distract the Warhounds. You better make d.a.m.n sure Jason has you s.h.i.+elded from anything metal. Understand? I don't care if you have to hold his mind together to do it, you make sure he s.h.i.+elds you.”
Kerr stared at her. ”You're not coming.”
”One of us has to finish this. Now go.”
”I'll find Lucas,” Kerr said as he pulled away from her and ran for the door. ”I'll let him know we're almost ready.”
She felt Kerr dig his power into her mind so hard and deep that for a moment all she saw was brightly colored spots. I'll keep you hidden, Kerr said, and then he was gone.
Kerr hit the hallway running, telepathy spanning the damaged mental grid for the only minds that mattered to him. He found Jason and Quinton first, their tangled thoughts weak and getting weaker. He couldn't find Lucas, but the Stryker merge still held against Nathan's focused attacks. Lucas was alive-somewhere-and all Kerr had to do was find him. But with all the telepathic power in the world tangled up in everyone's mind, Kerr only had one chance.
Using his empathy, he skimmed through the ravaged and dying minds around him, fighting the overwhelming urge to vomit in midstep as the horrendous feeling of hundreds of people dying overwhelmed him. He had to fight to regain his balance and continued running down the lower-level hallway, his footsteps echoing against the metal walls.
He felt Kristen first, her dysfunctional power like a hole in the mental grid that threatened to swallow Kerr's sanity. Keeping his distance would have been the smart thing to do, but he didn't have time to think about his safety, only about what needed to be done. Kerr snapped a telepathic psi link between them, Kristen's thoughts swirling through his mind.
I need Lucas, Kerr said.
He can't hear you, Kristen told him, the usual manic cheer gone from her mental voice. In its place was some emotion he couldn't identify, not in the context of her power. Kristen wasn't the sort to feel fear.
Then find me a telepath who can link with me.
Kristen gave him to Samantha, and Kerr almost lost himself to the merge. He had to claw his way back to a balanced mind, with Samantha dragging Kerr behind his s.h.i.+elds to keep him from getting sucked into the pulsating ma.s.s of power that was the merge. Samantha was barely managing to hold it together, and he could sense the brittleness in her mind.
Make it quick, came Samantha's strained voice. It echoed, as if she was speaking from far away.
We're almost ready. Start clearing the field.